


In the Eye of the Hurricane

by Immortal_Dreams



Category: Hamilton - Miranda, Hamilton - Miranda (Broadway Cast) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Alexander Hamilton, F/M, Human Disaster Alexander Hamilton, Lin is Alexander Hamilton, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, President Alexander Hamilton, President Lin Manuel Miranda, Reincarnation, Who gave Alexander Hamilton access to Twitter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:33:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23367760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immortal_Dreams/pseuds/Immortal_Dreams
Summary: You’d think he’d remember being Alexander the moment he picks up Ron Chernow’s biography. Or when he starts writing Hamilton. Or when he puts on the costume for the first time. Or literally at any point during the year of playing essentially himself. But no. Of course he doesn’t. He remembers while watching the voting results of the 2016 election being counted. And as he watches the white of an independent candidate moving past the line marking the majority, he thinkswell, fuck. I guess 200 years of waiting paid off.*Or: Lin-Manuel Miranda is the reincarnation of Alexander Hamilton and realizes that fact embarrassingly late.
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens, Lin-Manuel Miranda/Vanessa Nadal
Comments: 61
Kudos: 302
Collections: Start the Tape Again





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [history has its eyes on you](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9780929) by [Sanna_Black_Slytherin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanna_Black_Slytherin/pseuds/Sanna_Black_Slytherin). 



> Hi, so I have finally listened to the Hamilton Soundtrack and now I'm obsessed. This is inspired by "history has its eyes on you" by the wonderful Sanna_Black_Slytherin who has allowed me to use their idea as a base for this fic. Check out their fics too, they are amazing!

Reincarnates were quite common these days. Everyone knew that some people were reborn and got a second chance. It was as much common knowledge as that the sky was blue.

Now, most reincarnates had been simple peasants, sometimes soldiers, and on a few rare occasions scientists or lowly politicians. There hasn’t been a famous reincarnate in almost fifty years. (Some rich white guy had turned out to be the reincarnation of Shakespeare. He’d died five years after the Revelation from pneumonia.) Okay, maybe there had been some, but they hadn’t come out to the public. Which was understandable. Most people don’t like the loss of privacy that comes with being famous. 

Generally, the Revelation happens at some point before you turn thirty. Very few people remember at a later age. In fact, there are quite a few who are born with the memories. Usually, the Revelation is triggered by learning anything about the time period you used to live in, or seeing a picture of your hometown, or watching a movie. Other people just randomly start dreaming about their past life.

Almost everybody knows at least one reincarnate. Lin isn’t an exception. Two of his fellow cast members remember. Daveed has always known—at least that’s what he says. He used to be a poor farmer that died at thirty-five because health care didn’t exist back then. Pippa had her Revelation when she first put on her costume. Apparently, she had been a girl born into a rich family and forced to marry for politics. She was so happy when she realized that she was using her second chance to live for herself. Lin considered having her play Angelica instead of Eliza for a moment, but quickly decided against it. No, she was perfect for Eliza. He couldn’t explain why he was so sure, but he was. 

To be honest, Lin had been a little disappointed when he turned thirty without having a Revelation. He liked the thought of remembering the past. But, he didn’t, so he continued writing songs and musicals. And, well, it worked out, didn’t it? Lin couldn’t be happier with the life he made for himself. He has an amazing family and the best friends anyone can possibly wish for. Hamilton is a hit and performing is still fun even after a year. He’s kind of sad to let it go, he realizes in his last week as Alexander Hamilton. Lin planned to cut his hair off after the last curtain closes, but sitting in front of the mirror, his hair guy behind him with clippers in hand, he can’t do it. Maybe just a little longer, he thinks. Hey—he’s allowed to be sentimental about this, right? And even though the long hair is annoying, takes an eternity to dry, and Lin constantly loses all his hair ties, it also feels just right. He has no idea why, but for now, he’s keeping it.

Daveed jokes that maybe he’s secretly the reincarnation of Hamilton and Lin laughs, because that’s absolutely ridiculous. 

*****  
********************  
*****

Okay, maybe it’s not that ridiculous. Maybe Daveed’s right after all. Actually, scratch that. This is very much ridiculous if you ask Lin. Because really?

You’d think he’d remember being Alexander the moment he picks up Ron Chernow’s biography. Or when he starts writing Hamilton. Or when he puts on the costume for the first time. Or literally at any point during the year of playing essentially himself. But no. Of course he doesn’t. He remembers while watching the voting results of the 2016 election being counted. And as he watches the white of an independent candidate moving past the line marking the majority, he thinks _well, fuck. I guess 200 years of waiting paid off._

He’d seen the tweet that suggested electing him, and he’d laughed about it and showed people, who also laughed about it. He didn’t think his fans were actually serious. He didn’t think they’d actually manage to convince more than half the country to vote for him. He didn’t think they’d manage to keep it a secret while also having Obama speak for him.

But he also didn’t think that he was actually the reincarnation of Alexander Hamilton. But of fucking course he was. And it’s just so him—Alexander?—to remember that fact the moment he realizes he has been elected President of the United States of America without ever running for office.

The crazy thing is, Lin would rather do anything but be in politics and Alexander couldn’t be happier about finally being President. And somehow, both exist in the same body now. So, Lin wants to both cry alone in his bathtub and jump around laughing.

His friends are staring at him with open mouths, their eyes moving between the TV and Lin. His wife seems to debate whether she should hug him or scold the others for staring. Lin’s eyes are glued to the screen, where the white bar gets even longer. And that’s when the flood of memories happens. 47 years of life play in his mind like a movie. Lin clutches his head. There’s so much, too much. 

_“Mama? MAMA! No! Please stay...please, please, please...”_

_Sobbing, people dragging him away from her body... his cousin hanging from the ceiling, dead eyes staring at him...the hurricane, so much destruction...he has to get out, getoutgetoutgetout...the war, Lafayette, Mulligan...Laurens, no, don’t, not him too...Eliza...Philip...Philip! No, stay, stay...the duel, pain, so much pain, agony, darkness..._

_So much death, why was there so much death? So much pain?_

Pain. He can feel the bullet between his ribs. He can feel the pain. Tears are rolling down his face. His knees buckle. Lin screams and falls to the floor. He curls in on himself, crying. He doesn’t register his friends surrounding him, his wife trying to comfort him. There is just so much pain, and then...darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember that I know almost nothing about American politics, so just think of anything I got wrong as AU, okay?

When Lin wakes up again, he is surrounded by his friends, who seem to be arguing with each other. As he slowly opens his eyes, he listens to what they are saying.

“We have to call an ambulance, guys! He just collapsed!”

Oh. That’s Jon. 

“Oh, relax,” someone else says. Lin is pretty sure it’s Daveed.

“What?!” Jon almost shouts back.

“No, he’s right,” another voice says. Pippa? “I’m like 90 percent sure he’s just had a Revelation. I fell to the floor when I had mine, too.”

Yeah, definitely Pippa. Someone is playing with his hair. Probably Vanessa. Lin opens one eye and catches his wife’s gaze. She smiles. No one else notices.

“You didn’t lose consciousness!”

Pippa’s eyes widen. “Well, no...”

Lin opens the other eye and frowns at his friends. Jon continues. “See? This isn’t normal! I’ve never heard of that happening!”

At that, Daveed nods hesitantly. “Me neither. I mean, I was told I’ve been a fussy baby but that’s all.”

“Yeah, but you also didn’t just remember forty-seven years of pain and death,” Lin says, snorting.

All eyes turn to him. There’s a chorus of “Lin!”. He smiles. “I’m fine, really.”

Vanessa raises her brows. “You sure about that?”

Lin nods enthusiastically, then clutches his head when a headache starts. “Ow”

It takes a few seconds, then everyone starts laughing. Even Lin. When he stops, Daveed grins. 

“Welcome to the club, then,” he says, “So, who were you?”

Lin is shaking his head before he can think about it. “Nope. I’m not telling you,” he says, “You’ll never keep it to yourself. Tomorrow, all of Twitter would know!”

He lays his head on the ground and closes his eyes.

Vanessa hums. “Hey, Alexander?”

“Yeah?” Lin answers without thinking.

There is silence. Lin opens his eyes and stares at his friends. “Fuck,” he mumbles.

***************

Lin is bombarded with questions as soon as his friends recover from their shock. His wife, god bless her, holds his hand through it all. 

“Which year were you actually born?” Pippa asks. “1757 or 55?”

Lin groans. “Nothing said here will ever leave this room, okay?”

When everyone nods, he sighs. “1757. I once accidentally told someone the wrong date because I was sleep deprived and then never bothered to correct it.”

Daveed grins before asking his question. Lin gets a bad feeling about this one. 

“Were you actually white before?”

Okay. Not bad at all. Lin grins back.

“Nope. I mean, I’m from the Caribbean. Who the hell thought I’d be white? I had pretty much the same skin colour I’ve got now. I did have red hair though.”

Daveed nods. “Do you miss it?”

“The hair?” Lin asks, laughing. “God, no. I hated it.”

Almost all of them start laughing. Only Jon looks thoughtful. When everyone has calmed down again, he asks his question while Lin is sipping from his glass of water.

“Did you really invite John Laurens to your wedding night?”

Lin spits out the water, hitting Jon in the face. He turns bright red as he stares at his friend.

“Why the fuck would you ask that?” he said, crossing his arms.

Jon only grins at him. “Oh come on. People have been wondering for a long time.”

Lin rolls his eyes and sighs. “As a matter of fact, I did.”

“Did he accept?” Daveed asks, leaning forward as if Lin were telling a story.

Lin closes his eyes. “Yes,” he admits. 

They stare at him, eyes wide.

“Do you want me to tell you what exactly we did that night? I do remember every second of it,” Lin drawls, glaring at them.

“Yes,” Jon says while the others frantically shake their heads.

Lin nods. “Didn’t think so.”

****************

It takes an hour until three secret service agents stand in front of his door. They tell him they have orders to bring Lin to the White House to discuss the situation. Lin nods and puts on some shoes and a jacket. He kisses Vanessa goodbye, checks on Sebastian, who is peacefully sleeping in his room, and tells his friends not to talk to people until he’s back. Then, he follows the agents to the car which brings them to a helicopter. 

Almost two hours later, Lin is led through the corridors of the White House. This is also the point when he notices that he is probably horribly underdressed in his Hamilton shirt and jeans. Well, it’s too late to change that now, he thinks as the secret service guys open the door to the President’s office and he walks inside. There are only a few people in it. The Obamas, and three people he doesn’t recognise.

As soon as Lin steps inside, President Obama is walking towards him. They shake hands and Lin smiles.

“I must admit, I did not expect to meet you again in a situation quite like this,” Obama says.

Lin nods. “Neither did I, really. I guess you know that this whole campaign was orchestrated by the Hamfam, right?”

When the three unknown people look confused, Lin elaborates. “The fans.”

They nod.

“We are aware,” one of them says.

She is a rather petite woman, looking to be in her late thirties or early forties. 

“The question is whether you accept the position,” the man next to her says.

“To be perfectly honest,” Michelle Obama says, “And this is definitely not an official statement, I am speaking for all of us when I say that I hope you accept. If you don’t, the presidency will automatically go to the one in second place because your ticket does not specify a vice president. That would be Donald Trump.”

The petite woman speaks up again. “We are aware that you are not at all qualified for this but everyone would be better than Trump.”

Lin smiles. “Actually,” he says, “I might be more qualified than you think. It isn’t against any laws for reincarnates to be president, right?”

Everyone’s eyes widen. Barack Obama shakes his head.

“Not as far as I am aware. Unless, of course, you have already served two terms in your past life?”

“No,” Lin says, “I did not live long enough to become president. To be honest, I don’t think I would have much of a chance at winning either. I did make some mistakes I am not proud of.”

Michelle tilts her head and narrows her eyes. “Were you, by any chance, this country’s first treasury secretary?”

Lin laughs. “Is it really that obvious? My wife also knew within a minute.”

“Not really,” Michelle says. “I just thought it might make sense. You do realise you wrote a musical about yourself?”

“Yes. But to my defence, I only had the Revelation today.”

Barack clears his throat. “I take it you accept the position?”

Lin nods. “Yes. Although I never had any interest in it in this life, the part of me that is Alexander has been waiting for this for over two hundred years. I think I can handle four years in office.”

“Good. Do you have an idea on who you want to be your vice president? You do have to name one as soon as you do your acceptance speech.”

Lin grimaces. “Yeah, about that, do I have to make a speech right now? I feel like a tweet would do the job just fine.”

Barack smiles. “I’m afraid you do.”

“Okay then,” Lin says, sighing. “Can I choose anyone as my VP?”

“As long as they agree, yes. Though I would advise against choosing someone who had never been in politics.”

Lin nods, thinking about it for a second. He ponders some options, but the truth is that he doesn’t know many politicians. Certainly none that would make a good VP. There might be someone, though.

“Mrs Obama?” Lin asks, looking at Michelle. “How would you feel about working with me?”

Michelle blinks a few times. “Are you serious?”

Lin nods. “Absolutely. So, what do you say? Do I have a Vice President?”

She doesn’t hesitate. “You do,” she says with a smile on her lips.

Lin grins. Maybe this isn’t going to be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should other people from the Hamilsquad be reincarnated? If you've got an idea who could be who, please comment down below.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. More coming soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know much about US politics, sooooo....

Okay, so Lin knows he said this wasn’t going to be bad. But, he didn’t really count on asshole reporters at that point. His speech started off quite good, actually. Yes, maybe it wasn’t too professional, but he isn’t a politician. Thinking about it, it might be a good thing that his memories of being Alexander are still settling in...

As he steps in front of the reporters, they go wild. Cameras flash and people start to shout. But that isn’t anything he can’t handle. That part he is used to.  
Lin feels a bit ridiculous in his jeans, Hamilton t-shirt, and borrowed suit jacket. He still smiles at the cameras, because again, he is used to that.

“Hi,” he says, probably leaning a little too close to the microphone. “Thank you for being here. I have to admit, I was a little shocked when I noticed that people had voted for me. You see, I didn’t run for President. That whole thing was organised by the fans, whom I have to thank at this point.” He looks directly into one camera. “Hamfam, you guys are the best.”

Lin pauses for a second, looking over the mass of reporters. “Despite not having planned to do this, I am accepting the position and will gladly be this beautiful country’s president. Joining me for this adventure is my wonderful Vice President, Mrs Michelle Obama.”

At that, the crowd goes wild. Lin only smiles brighter at that. “We hope to keep our country as strong as ever while possibly changing some things for the better. Now, I believe it is time for questions.” Lin frowns. “Do you normally take questions at this sort of thing? Well, today we do.”

He should have prepared a little more for this. There’s a very high chance of his unpreparedness being glaringly obvious. Ah, well. Lin shrugs internally. It’s a little late to do something about that now, isn’t it?

The reporters take a few seconds to think about questions before they start screaming them at him. Lin guesses they are just as unprepared as he is. And, hey. The questions start off quite nice. He’s asked about his political opinions and that’s easy to answer. He’s talked about that in enough interviews to not have to think about what to say. Some questions are harder to answer, mainly because he doesn’t actually have any plans on what he wants to achieve during his time in office. So, he improvises and tells them something about working against discrimination and how it’s important for him that people get equal chances. That’s not too specific and those topics are important to him, so Lin thinks Michelle probably won’t get angry at him for saying that without telling her first.

He’s asked about his choice to have her as his VP, too. Lin only gives the reporter a look and tells him that she’s probably the best person for the job. He doesn’t care that the guy probably wanted to get a longer answer and instead chooses the next person.

“Hi,” the woman says, “I’m from Fox News and I’m sure we’re all wondering if you’re really suited to be President, considering your lack of experience in politics. Do you think this country really needs a guy who writes musicals to be its President?”

Lin only barely manages to avoid flinching back. “Well,” he says, “considering over half the people of this country voted for me, I imagine that we apparently do need a playwright to be President.” Part of the crowd laughs and Lin smiles. “You are right that I don’t have much experience, but I do have almost three more months to learn all I need to know. I’d say I’m a fast learner and I’ve got Mrs Obama by my side if there’s anything I struggle with. Besides, I’ve picked up quite a few things during those seven years of writing Hamilton. I’m fairly sure I could recite most of the Federalist Papers without a problem.”

And he can. At least, he has a feeling that he can. Lin is also aware of the fact that he couldn’t do that yesterday. He also couldn’t recite all the letters Hamilton ever wrote before today. And yes, that does include those that no one ever got to see. Hm. Now that he iss thinking about it, Lin is pretty sure that he’d had an eidetic memory in his past life. Boy is he glad that the memories haven’t settled yet. He should probably get a therapist before they do. 

Lin forces himself out of his thoughts and smiles at the crowd of reporters. “That will be all,” he says, “I’m sorry for not answering all your questions. I’m sure there’ll be another opportunity to do that.”

He lets his gaze drift over the crowd, then turns around and does his best to not run back into the white house. In there, Lin is greeted by the Obamas. They smile at him and tell him that he did well. Michelle pulls him into a hug.

“Do you want to stay here?” she asks and Lin looks up at her, confused. Michelle laughs. “It’s late. We could have someone fly you back to New York, of course, but I can imagine you’re ready to fall asleep on your feet.”

Now that she says it, yeah. Lin is tired. He kind of wants to get back to Vanessa and Sebastian, but another two hours of flight time sounds like a terrible idea right now. 

He nods. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m going to assume you have a guest room I can use?”

At that, Barack laughs too. “Try over a dozen.”

“Cool,” Lin says, “Hey, that means I can have all my friends over when I live here!”

Michelle nods. “Yeah. It’s convenient.”

“Cool, cool.” Lin yawns. Suddenly, he feels really fucking tired. He blinks a few times, finding it hard to keep his eyes open. 

“Let’s get you to a guest room, yeah?” Michelle says and leads the way to the elevator.

Lin nods. Then, he remembers that he should probably tell Vanessa and pulls his phone out while following the Obamas. There’s already a lot of texts. He ignores most of them and clicks on Vanessa’s.

**Great speech! <3 ******

********

********

Lin smiles and quickly texts back.

**thanks. i’ll stay at the white house for the night. will be back tomorrow. probably.**

********

********

He gets a thumbs up emoji back, so he puts his phone back into his pocket. By now, they’ve arrived at the guest room. Lin says good night to the Obamas and walks inside. He barely manages to strip down to his boxers before collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Only took me a month haha...
> 
> But! I've figured out some other reincarnates and I'm really excited to introduce them. Guesses as to who is who are always welcome ;)
> 
> (Some might surprise you)


	4. Chapter 4

He wakes up when he hears the door opening. He tries to open his eyes, but it’s way too bright, so he holds one hand in front of them, groaning.

“Eliza?” he asks quietly, slowly blinking his eyes open.

“I’m sorry, sir,” answers a decidedly male voice and Alexander’s eyes fly open.

In front of the bed stands a young man in a suit. He’s holding a plate with another on top and he’s smiling slightly. Alex stares at him. What the hell?

“Mrs Obama asked me to bring your breakfast to you,” the man continues. “Where would you like me to put it down, Mr Miranda?”

Oh. Oh, shit. Alex rubs his eyes. Wait—no. Not Alex. He’s Lin. He’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, playwright. He isn’t Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of Treasury. Not anymore. 

Lin looks back up and notices that the man is still looking at him. “Uh,” he says, looking around the room. “Just put it on the desk, I guess.”

The man smiles and sets the plate down. “The Obamas would like to meet you in the main living room once you are finished.”

“Okay,” Lin says and nods. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome,” the man says, then turns around and leaves.

Lin groans and falls back onto the bed.

***

Eventually, he does get up and eat breakfast. It’s pancakes. Luckily they’re still warm. Lin eats them a little too quickly to enjoy them properly, but at this point he really just wants to get home. After that, he goes into the en-suite bathroom, where he takes a quick shower and brushes his teeth. Lin pulls on the jeans and Hamilton shirt from yesterday because he hasn’t brought anything else. He then proceeds to spend an embarrassingly long time searching for his right shoe. It’s in the trash bin. How the fuck did his shoe get into there?

As soon as he’s fully dressed, Lin grabs his phone, shoves it into his trouser pocket, and opens the door. He walks out of the room, making sure he’s really got all of his stuff before closing the door. At that point, Lin notices that he has absolutely no fucking idea how to get to the main living room. He can’t even remember how to get to the elevator. Well, shit.

Lin eventually decides to just walk in one direction and hope to miraculously find the right way, or find someone he can ask. He really hopes for the first one, but realistically Lin knows that the white house is way too big for that to work.

He walks for a while, taking random turns and hoping for the best. While walking, Lin pulls out his phone and opens twitter. Normally, he’d spend quite a while on the app, but today’s not normal, so he just writes his usual ‘Gmorning’ tweet, posts it, and then closes the app as soon as that’s done. He knows he’ll have tons of comments and honestly, Lin’s not really up to dealing with those right now. He’ll read some later, maybe post something else. Now, Lin wants to find the Obamas and get home.

When he rounds the next corner, he doesn’t expect there to be anyone else. So, of course he runs straight into the person standing there. Lin’s luck seems to be nonexistent today and he stumbles backwards, falling right on his butt. Still a little shocked, he blinks up at the person he ran into.

They are tall, have curly hair, and their skin is a few shades darker than Lin’s. They are also currently staring down at Lin.

Lin grimaces. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I should have paid more attention to where I was going.”

“Oh,” they say, and Lin notices a slight French accent, “no, it’s fine. I wasn’t looking either. Here, let me help you up.”

They hold out a hand and Lin gladly takes it, letting them pull him up. 

“Thank you,” he says, smiling. 

They smile back. “No problem. Well, I’ll better get going. I’ve got a meeting with the President I have to get to.”

Lin’s eyes widen and he takes a step towards them as they start to turn away. “Wait!”

They turn back, a look of confusion on their face. “Yes?”

Lin feels a little stupid, but shakes the feeling off. “I—uh...I have a meeting with him too, actually.”

“Oh?” They tilt their head to the side.

“Yeah,” Lin says. “I don’t know about what exactly, but I’ve been told to meet the Obamas in the main living room.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting.” They look thoughtful. “Me, too.”

Lin hesitates for a second. “Do you know where that is? Because I don’t have a clue.”

“Oh, yes, of course!” They nod. “My father has dragged me along to too many meetings for me to forget. Would you like to walk there together?”

“That would be wonderful.”

****

They do not talk much on the way there. Lin doesn’t have to introduce himself because his companion already knows who he is. He guesses everybody does now. He does get to know a little bit about his companion, though. Apparently, their father is the ambassador to France and they are regularly forced to attend meetings with him. Being summoned by themselves is a little strange, however.

Also, Lin had somehow managed to walk in a circle before, because they pass the door to the room he slept in only half a minute after they start walking. He’s not exactly sure how he managed to do that. The way to the living room isn’t complicated at all, as it turns out. They take two turns and then they’re already standing in front of a bigger door. This one also has some vines carved into the wood and there’s a plaque on the wall next to it that says “Main Living Room”. Huh. Lin really wonders how he didn’t find it on his own. Now that he’s here, it seems way too easy to mess up.

Lin groans at his own stupidity and puts his face into his hands for a few seconds. His companion—he should probably ask for their name at some point—laughs at that. When Lin lifts his head up again, they smirk at him.

“Let’s go in, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand cut. Sorry about the cliffhanger. It simply was the perfect point to end the chapter.
> 
> On another note, I have finally decided on who most of the reincarnates are going to be. Some will be people we already know, some won't. Guesses are always welcome. In any case, there WILL be a new character tag added for the next chapter ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for taking so long. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
> 
> (also I'm very tired as I write this, so if there are any mistakes please tell me)

The Obamas are quietly conversing when the two of them enter the room. Lin hesitates for a moment. Should he say something? Is it better to wait for them to finish their conversation?

His companion doesn’t seem to have that problem. They walk past Lin and plop down in one of the two chairs opposite the Obamas. Barack and Michelle smile at them before returning to their conversation.

Lin nods to himself. Alright. That seems to be the way. He makes his way over to the three and sits down in the last chair. A minute of awkward silence (Only for Lin really, the others look pretty relaxed) later, the Obamas finish their conversation and turn to Lin and his companion. 

Barack smiles at them. “Thank you for coming on such a short notice,” he says.

Michelle nods. She turns to look more at Lin’s companion. “How have you been, Gilbert? I believe it has been a few months since we last spoke.”

“Oh, I have been well,” they say, smiling. “I think my father has finally realized that I will not become a politician—no offense. I am much better off teaching.”

“Have you gotten a job in New York, then?” 

“Yes—“ Gilbert nods. “—my best friend even threw me a party to celebrate. He’s glad—and I quote—that I ‘won’t be moping about missing my husband twice a day anymore’”

The Obamas laugh and even Lin can’t fight a smile. Gilbert smiles too.

“I’m fairly sure Herc missed me just as much as I missed him, though. He just sews clothes to cope instead of complaining to John.”

“There have been a lot of new designs in the last few months,” Michelle says. “I will miss that, but I’m happy you two don’t have to be apart from each other anymore.”

Barack takes his wife’s hand. “Oh, I’m sure there’ll still be enough new designs,” he says, then turns to Lin. “Gilbert’s husband has a fashion line, you see.”

“Oh,” Lin says, finally understanding. “Well, I can assure you that you’re not the only one whose friends are tired of having to listen to you mope about missing your partner. My friends always tell me I’m unbearable if I have to go longer than three days without seeing my wife.”

Gilbert laughs at that. “They should create a ‘my friend is annoying without their partner’ support group,” they say.

Lin nods, a smile on his lips.

“So,” Michelle says, turning to Lin, “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” Lin answers, “To be honest, I was a bit confused as to where I was this morning, but I think that was more because of the whole reincarnation  
thing.”

The Obamas nod. “That’s understandable,” Barack says. “You’re bound to be a bit disorientated too.”

Gilbert looks at Lin in consideration. “You are a reincarnate?”

“Yeah,” Lin says, “Only found out yesterday. Man, that was one hell of a crazy day.”

Both Barack and Michelle laugh, but calm down quickly. Barack looks at both Lin and Gilbert before speaking up.

“That is actually the reason we asked you two to meet with us,” he says. “We are sorry for not warning you, or asking if you’d be alright with this. We know you are fairly open with it, Gilbert, so we hope you don’t mind. Lin, you probably don’t want too many people to know at this point in time. But we felt that it would be only right to introduce the two of you.”

At this point, Lin’s getting highly suspicious. Obviously, Gilbert is a reincarnate as well, but who? They certainly don’t look like anyone he remembers. But then again, neither does he.

“I am slowly getting why you are calling me Gilbert instead of what everyone else calls me,” Gilbert says. They narrow their eyes. “I can only guess who would have been important enough to me to make you want me to meet them. However, there are quite a few people that fit the criteria, and I’ve only met two of them yet.”

“Actually,” Michelle says, “he was just as important to you as he was to those two.”

Lin is still confused as fuck, but Gilbert seems to get it now. Their eyes widen and they stare at Lin. They start to reach out before pulling their hand back. When they speak, their voice sounds kind of broken.

“Who—“ They hesitate and a French accent slips into their voice. “—Were you—Alexander?”

Eyes widening as well, Lin can only nod. And shit, he can recognize them now. The accent, the recognition of who he must be, the _name_. Tears form in his eyes.

“Laf?”

“Yes!” Laf jumps up. “Oh, how I’ve missed you, mon ami. Can I hug you?”

Lin’s standing up and nodding faster than he can comprehend. He’s got his arms full of a happy frenchperson even faster.

“We thought we were the only ones,” they whisper after a minute.

Lin blinks. “Wait—we?”

Laf pulls away from him. “Yes,” they say, nodding enthusiastically. “I found Hercules first, when we were in high school. We’re married now and Herc’s a fashion designer. He’s amazing at that. And when we were in college, we found John. He’s teaching art in New York, so we can all meet up soon.”

“Yeah,” Lin says, a little overwhelmed.

He isn’t alone. Laf is here, and so are Herc and John. Oh, fuck, _John_. John’s _alive_. He’s older now than he ever was while Lin knew him. Older than he was when he died. Lin can still remember the pain he felt when he got that letter. A part of him broke that day and never healed.

Laf frowns. “Alexander, are you all right?”

Lin sighs. “Yeah,” he says, “It’s just...it’s been a while since I last saw him.”

Laf doesn’t even have to ask who he’s talking about. They pull him back into a hug.

“I can only imagine how difficult this is for you,” they say quietly. “I reacted similarly, as did Herc. But we had known who we used to be for years by then. We had already processed our past lives. You haven’t.”

And that’s all it takes for Lin to break down. “I don’t even know who I am anymore,” he whispers, choking on a sob.

Laf rubs his back, and it feels so good to let it all out. To have someone who can at least kind of understand. Someone who knew him before.

“It’s okay to feel that way,” they whisper. “We’ll help you figure it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter!
> 
> If you'd like to, you might consider supporting me on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/immortal_dreams

**Author's Note:**

> I love Lin's long hair way too much to not keep it haha


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